Proverbs 1:1-7 - Wisdom - Brian Seay (Disciple Makers) - 8.16.2026

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. So good. You

can all turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter

one. We're heading that direction to talk about

wisdom. Thank you, Pastor Joe, for the introduction.

I got to say, it's a pleasure being with you

guys here. One thing, even just in the short

time being with you guys, that's something that's

very obvious about this church is you guys are

a joyful bunch. I think the joy of the Lord is

very obviously here and marks you all. So I praise

the Lord for that. It's clear you guys know how

to have a good time and enjoy Jesus thoroughly.

So thank you for letting us be a part of this.

I'm not sure if this is on, but... You know,

we're going to look at Proverbs chapter one here.

This is a teaching that I did with our students

back at our end of the year conference. We actually

had three days to walk them through the book

of Proverbs and some teachings from that. So

I want to start us off here just looking at Proverbs

chapter one. Yeah, I think that's still picking

me up here. To introduce this, I want to tell

you a story from my childhood. So we'll go in

a little time travel device and go back. There

was a time when my mother, I very vividly remember

telling me, don't put soap in your eyes. Well,

that's some wisdom, right? And I remember asking

my mom, why? Why shouldn't I do that? And I think

maybe this was one of those moments where mom

just sort of throws out the, well, because I

told you so. Sort of quick, trying to move through.

Learned to bathe myself, whatever. So I get in

the bathtub, and very quickly, curiosity overrides

wisdom. Sort of scrubbing and doing a little

scrubbing, and it wasn't. You know where this

is going. It wasn't too long before, boop, that

soap bar goes in my eyeball, and I start screeching

at the top of my lungs. Mom, mom, mom! You know,

what happened, what happened, what happened?

I got soap in my eyes! And then the next, you

know what the words were after that? I told you

so, right? Mom warned about getting soap in the

eye, and I intentionally did it anyway. Listen,

we all have this impulse in us to disregard advice

and rather to do things our own way. Now that

impulse to disregard advice written large over

the course of a lifetime is actually crushing

and destructive. Have you ever met somebody who

clearly shipwrecked their life? Maybe personally

you know someone like that. Listen, there is

objectively a way to do life well and a way to

do life poorly. And we all stand at the fork

in the road of those two results, and the split

in the road runs down this verse. It's Proverbs

3, 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and

lean not on your own understanding. Wisdom has

been defined. This is a little different than

the definition that Pastor Joe just gave, but

it's a complementary definition. The word in

the scriptures that is translated wisdom has

been defined as the art or skill of living the

good life. The art or skill of living the good

life. And I'll tell you more about that in a

minute. Listen, living the good life does not

come intuitively to us. Rather, it requires us

to be taught and develop it like any other skill.

So welcome to the book of Proverbs. The book

of Proverbs is your introduction to the art and

skill of living the good life. Do you want to

know how to not shipwreck your life? how to thrive

and flourish, how to manage your finances, use

your words, steward your relationships, avoid

devastating sin, and even leave an impact on

the spheres of influence that God has given you.

Do you want to learn how to learn? Well, welcome

to the book of Proverbs. It is your introduction

to wisdom. If you're unfamiliar with the book

of Proverbs, chapters 1 to 9, it's a 31 -chapter

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

book. Chapters 1 to 9 is all just introduction

to the topic of wisdom. Solomon explaining what

it is and how do you get it and all of that before

ever really dishing out what we typically think

of as those little nuggets, those two -line nuggets

of wisdom that make up the rest of the book,

10 to 31. What I want to do is just in our time

here together, briefly look at Solomon's introduction

to the topic of wisdom. to his book of wisdom

in Proverbs 1 to 7, most of our time spent on

verse 7 and that filter through which he looks

at wisdom. So let me pray for us and we'll get

into it here. God, thank you for the morning.

Thank you that we could be together and to look

at your word. And thank you that, Lord, there's

no distant clockmaker going on here. It's not

that you set the world in motion and stepped

away, but actually you are intimately involved

in helping your creatures, namely us, know how

life is best lived. Ultimately, Lord, we understand

that that's by coming to you in repentance and

in faith to know you through the blood of Jesus

Christ and his resurrection. But even as we consider

the practicals of our lives that you haven't

left us, that you actually care about the nitty

-gritty details of our lives, and you've actually

instructed us in those things. So help us to

understand even the foundation of that as we

explore your text here this morning. We ask this

in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm going to read to you

Proverbs 1, verses 1 to 7. It says this, the

Proverbs 1:1–7

Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.

Listen, this is a purpose statement. If you notice

the word to there, he's about to tell us why

he is writing the book. To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight. to receive instruction

in wise dealing in righteousness, justice, and

equity, to give prudence to the simple, knowledge

and discretion to the youth. Let the wise hear

and increase in learning, and the one who understands

obtain guidance to understand a proverb and a

saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Let me

show you a little bit about what's going on in

this purpose statement before we get to that

foundation in verse 7. What is the purpose of

the Proverbs? He says three things. The Proverbs

are for the sake of wisdom. The word translated

wisdom there in verse 2 is the Hebrew word chokmah,

which is spelled H -O -F -L -E -M. E -M -A. Chokmah.

Okay, just got to get it in there. You're welcome

to try that on if you want. You want to do it

with me? One, two, three. Chokmah. There you

go. This word is a little tricky to nail down

in its definition. Bruce Waltke in his commentary

on the Proverbs says, in Proverbs, wisdom mainly

denotes the skill to navigate through the maze

of life so that one conducts one's life to the

greatest benefit of oneself and the community.

It is the way of eternal life. Through wisdom,

one is able to read circumstances, interpret

situations so as to act correctly, speak properly,

and respond appropriately to each situation so

that beneficial consequences ensue to self and

community. Thanks, Bruce. That was a little bit

of a mouthful. What he's saying is wisdom is

knowing what to do in any given situation to

the best good of yourself and to those around

you. Or maybe a shorter way of saying that, it

is the art or skill of living the best life.

Now, an art or a skill, and the word chokmah

in the Hebrew, they understood it as an art or

a skill. Think about any other art or skill that

you might be familiar with, whether it's playing

a musical instrument or building them, or a sport

or some kind of woodworking craft or whatever.

Any kind of art or skill, there's two things

that go into that. One is there is a basis of

knowledge. There are things you need to know

in order to do that thing. You can't play a guitar

without understanding chord structure, and you'll

play even better if you understand music theory.

But like any skill, you can't just read a book

and suddenly be awesome at that thing. I wish

that's how it worked. But it doesn't work that

way. You actually have to put that skill into

practice. You could read a book on playing guitar,

but you don't know how to play the guitar until

you pick it up and start strumming. Wisdom...

is a skill that needs to be practiced over time.

You need to know which way to go, but you also

need repetition in order to excel at it. In other

words, wisdom is not wisdom until it is morally

applied. Solomon is the example of this. He was

the wisest man in the world until he failed to

continue applying it. If you know the story of

Solomon, he nearly shipwrecked his faith as he

began to give in to the lust of the flesh and

his love of women, and marriage after marriage

after marriage after marriage, that nearly destroyed

him, but he repented in the end. See, he failed

to continue in the moral application of the knowledge

and the wisdom that he had, and he felt the weight

of that. Now, here's a distinction I want to

make for you here this morning. As a Christian,

you can be negligent with wisdom and still be

saved. You can be negligent with wisdom and still

be saved, but you'll have a terrible life for

it. And that's what Solomon warns us of in the

book of Proverbs. He tells us the Proverbs are

for gaining this wisdom. You see that in verse

two, to know wisdom and instruction, to understand

words of insight. He also tells us in verse four,

secondly, that it's to give prudence to the simple.

It's actually to help simpletons to grow. That's

not a word we use a whole lot anymore, simpletons.

But here's the way this word is meant. There

are three main characters in the book of Proverbs.

There's the wise man, the one who has embraced

the Lord's guide to the art or skill of living

the best life. There's the fool who has rejected

that. And there's this man, the simpleton. The

simpleton is a man who is a fool by default simply

because he is young. When I tell my child don't

stand on the edge of the trampoline outside the

netting and they don't listen to me, they are

being a fool. It's because they don't quite understand

how gravity works and that you shouldn't stand

on the edge. And so when they fall off, hey,

listen, you just got some experience. The simpleton

is an amateur fool. Now, if he does not change

and he does not grow, he will go pro. And that's

what the Proverbs refer to as a fool. It's the

one who has rejected God's wisdom. But what Solomon

tells us in his introduction is his goal is actually

to take the inexperienced youth who doesn't understand

how the world works yet, and he is applying God's

wisdom, God's instruction to that person so they

don't shipwreck their lives, so they don't become

the fool. Now, I understand, I love teaching

Proverbs to college students because it's the

right time of life to get it to them. Making

decisions, setting patterns, all that sorts of

things. I love giving Proverbs to students. And

I understand some of you are not in my typical

preaching range, the 18 to 22 year old. The reality

is you may look at your life and go, there actually

are some patterns. There actually are some patterns

of foolishness that I embraced in the course

of my life and I see the effects of those things.

It's not too late. The book of Proverbs applies

as much to you if you are in your 70s or 80s

as it does to a 20 year old. You may not have

the time in this life to experience all the blessings

that are designed to be given through that wisdom,

but it's not too late to apply God's wisdom to

your life, even in particular areas. Proverbs

is designed to make the simple wise. Thirdly

is this, the Proverbs are for the teachable.

You see this in verses five and six. He says,

let the wise hear an increase in learning. And

let the one who understands obtain guidance to

understand a proverb and a saying, the words

of the wise and their riddles. See, in verse

5, he says, let the wise hear and increase in

learning. Wisdom is first and foremost marked

by being teachable. It's marked by being teachable

and being a learner. The one who has nothing

to learn will learn. Nothing. The one who has

nothing to learn will learn nothing. Additionally,

the person who cannot be corrected, the person

who cannot be wrong will learn nothing. If you

do not have a teachable, humble disposition,

you will not grow. You will not grow. So, how

do you develop a teachable disposition? How do

you develop that humility to learn and to grow

and to be taught this art or skill of living

the good life? Solomon tells us in verse 7, the

fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or

the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise

wisdom and instruction. Solomon unveils for us

his thesis statement in verse 7, or perhaps another

way of looking at it is it's the interpretive

lens through which he understands the art or

skill of living the good life. There's no way

to separate how to do life well from fearing

God. And so he says, it is the beginning of knowledge.

In chapter 9, the other end of his introduction,

verse 10, he repeats this phrase, the fear of

the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He bookends

his introduction by this reminder, this is where

it begins. So it would probably help us to define

our terms, wouldn't it? Because you notice, what

Solomon does not do in introducing this, he does

not say that the love of the Lord is the beginning

of wisdom. Interesting. He does not say faith

in the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He does

not say the grace of the Lord or the mercy of

the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He says

the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Why? Now, I don't know about you, but just about

every time I ever heard somebody explain the

fear of the Lord, they used the word reverence.

Fear of the Lord is this most holy reverence.

But here's what I want to pose for you this morning.

Every other time we use the word fear, we do

not mean reverence. We mean something that is

scary. We typically mean being scared about something.

Now, I understand all of us, if you're a Christian,

been a Christian for a while, there's an intuitive

tug that does not feel comfortable with that

reality. You go, well, wait a minute. God loves

us. God's merciful. What about the gospel? Yes

and amen. But let's not shy away from the word

that God uses here. The fear of the Lord is the

beginning of knowledge. I might want to say,

what about God's love, God's mercy, all this?

But then you run into passages like Matthew 17,

Matthew 17:5

verses 5 and 6, when the disciples are on the

Mount of Transfiguration. Listen to what it says.

In verse 5, Jesus was still speaking when behold,

a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice

from the cloud said, this is my beloved son with

whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. The audible

voice of God. What did the disciples do? Verse

six, when the disciples heard this, they fell

on their faces and were filled with reverence.

No, they fell on their faces and they were terrified.

Or what about Revelation chapter 1, when John,

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

the apostle John, meets the risen Lord Jesus?

In verse 12 and 13, it says this, then I turned

to see the voice that was speaking to me, and

on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. And

in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son

of man, clothed with a long robe, with a golden

sash around his chest. And if you know that passage,

he goes into describing the risen Lord Jesus

in all this detail. In verse 17, he says, when

I saw him, I fell at his feet as though I was

dead. That's not reverence. That's not just reverence.

But he laid his right hand on me and said, fear

not. I am the first and the last. And he goes

into his teaching to John. Those guys definitely

seem scared. They trembled. They hid. They crumpled

to the ground. That's not just reverence. That's

perhaps something far bigger than reverence.

That is. Fear. Fearing the Lord, at least in

part, has to do with this understanding that

we should drop dead in the presence of God Almighty.

Listen to what God says to Moses in Exodus 33,

Exodus 33:19–23

verse 19 to 23. It says, when God, when Moses

asks him to see his glory, God says this, and

he said, I will make all my goodness pass before

you and proclaim before you my name, Yahweh,

the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will

be gracious and show mercy on whom I will show

mercy. But, he said, you cannot see my face.

For man shall not see me and live. And the Lord

said, behold, there's a place by me where you

shall stand on the rock. And when my glory passes

by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock.

And I will cover you with my hand until I have

passed by. Then I will take away my hand and

you shall see my back. Listen to this. but my

face shall not be seen. Jesus says, man shall

not see me and live. Jacob experienced something

very similar in Genesis 32, 30. If you know the

story, that's when God leaps out of the woods,

throws Jacob in a headlock, and they have this

all -night wrestling match. At the end of it,

after God puts Jacob's hip out of socket and

blesses him, changing his name to Israel, Jacob

says this. Verse 30, he says, so Jacob called

the place, Peniel saying, I have seen God face

to face, and get this, and yet my life has been

delivered. He understood, I saw God's face, I

should be dead right now. And yet I am not. And

it's all of grace. It's all of grace that I'm

not. See, brothers and sisters, the fear of the

Lord is understanding that God is transcendent.

That he is beyond us in every way. That God is

holy and morally perfect and without the stain

of sin. And when all these people throughout

history interacted with God, they crumpled before

him because they understood their sinfulness

and their insufficiency. They understood that

being a sinful person in the presence of a holy,

perfect God meant that they were actually in

danger in that moment. And yet, God was gracious.

Do you know what the most repeated command in

the scripture is? It's fear not. The irony here

is that God both comes in all his fear -inducing

glory and yet in his grace comforts with the

words fear not and he draws them out. Fearing

God includes knowing that you and I should die,

that our sins deserve his full and unbridled

wrath, and it is only grace that restrains that.

See, brothers and sisters, the fear of the Lord

is trembling before him. It's understanding additionally

that we are not like him. That certainly we're

not holy, but think about the other attributes

of God. That there's this infinite contrast between

us and God. That he is creator and we are creature.

That he is Lord and we are servant. He is infinite.

We are finite. He is everywhere. We are confined.

He is all -knowing. We know actually not all

that much. That God can do all his holy will

pleases him to do. If you think you can pull

that off, try explaining that to a police officer.

You and I are limited, weak, bound by outside

constraints. The fear of the Lord is what you

and I would experience if God himself spoke to

us the way he spoke to Job. In Job 38, verses

Job 38:1–4

1 to 4. Maybe you're familiar with this. After

Job's complaint is lodged, God responds to him

and he says, the Lord answered Job out of the

whirlwind and said, who is this? Who is this

who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Dress for action like a man. I will question

you and you make it known to me. Where were you

when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell

me if you have understanding. Brothers and sisters,

What if you and I actually attempted to argue

with God? Who would win? Who would win? That's

the fear of the Lord. That's the fear of the

Lord that he's talking about. Well, why? Why

is that? Why is that experience of trembling

before God? Why is that the beginning of the

art or skill of living the good life? Bruce Waltke,

again, he says what the alphabet is to reading,

what notes are to music, what numerals are to

mathematics, the fear of Yahweh is to gaining

the book's wisdom and instruction. It's our foundation.

If wisdom is the art or skill of living the best

life, then who actually knows how life is best

lived? Is it you? Is it me? Give me a break.

You, in your meager, however many number of years,

You might not be a 20 -year -old anymore, but

look, in light of immortal, eternal God, you're

a spring chicken. Who has more experience, you

or the one who exists outside of time? Friends,

God is right in any argument. Which of us has

a better handle on how life is best lived? Additionally,

if you layer on top of this that you and I deserve

to die for our sins, and God in his grace has

not. done that, but rather died for us, where

does that leave us? Where does that leave us?

Brothers and sisters, the fear of the Lord leaves

us listening. It leaves us listening. It should,

if there's even a teeny tiny bit of sanity in

us and the work of the Spirit, it should leave

us listening. The fear of the Lord is the beginning

of wisdom because it puts you in the student's

chair and correctly identifies the right instructor.

If you want to live the best life, then why not

learn from the author of life? Why would you

dare argue with him as if though you or I knew

better? Why would you disregard his counsel?

As James says in his book, he says, be slow to

speak, quick to listen, or quick to listen, slow

to speak, and slow to anger. I think he's actually

talking about listening to God's word. Slow yourself

down. Be quick to listen to God and stop talking

over him. And certainly do not get angry with

him. Well, let's be honest. That's a work of

the Spirit. That's not something that you and

I can manufacture in and of ourselves. Prior

to Christ's work in us, we default to resisting

the fear of the Lord. Now, that doesn't mean

that a non -Christian can't stumble upon these

principles of how God has made the world to work

best, but they'll always be missing the foundation.

They'll always be missing the interpretive lens.

It may be a part of the truth, but it won't be

wisdom in its entirety. If you're in Christ,

you have the Holy Spirit, and so he is already

predisposing you through conviction and remembering

his word toward wisdom. But like our growth in

Christ, there's a work of the Spirit, or the

work that the Spirit is doing in us, in spite

of us, but we are also called to work out our

salvation with fear and trembling. You have a

part to play in embracing the fear of the Lord.

So let me pose the question to you. Do you fear

God? Is your life marked by a fear of the Lord?

Because that predisposes you. That is the foundation,

the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, knowing

how life is best lived. Brothers and sisters,

the evidence of fear of God in your life is listening

to God over listening to yourself. The evidence

of fear of God in your life is listening to God

over listening to yourself. As I mentioned in

the beginning, Proverbs 3, 5 is maybe the most

famous expression of this dichotomy. It says

this in verses 5 to 8, trust in the Lord with

all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him and he will

make straight your paths. Be not wise in your

own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment

to your bones. Look, there are only two options.

Either you will trust the Lord with all your

heart, or you will lean on your own understanding.

You can choose either one. You're free to do

that. One puts you in the driver's seat, and

I think we tend to like that until we realize

the consequences of it. One puts you in the driver's

seat, and that feels empowering. But remember,

you do things like consistently stay up too late

to watch stupid YouTube videos. You worry about

your future when you can't actually do anything

about it. You get irritated when other people

do the same things you do. Look, you're just

a very silly person and me too. You're welcome

to ignore wisdom. And as I said, look, as a Christian,

you will still be saved. It is Christ's work,

not your adherence to wisdom that saves you.

You're free to ignore wisdom, but listen, you'll

have a terrible life and you will die in shame.

See, trust in the Lord puts the Lord in control,

puts him in the driver's seat. And perhaps that's

the part we resist the most. are you marked by

being teachable? That's another way of saying,

are you marked by listening? Have you acknowledged

that God actually knows how life works better

than you do? Now, you may have done that in some

areas of your life, but are there areas where

you're saying, no, God, I'm not going to let

you into that one. I have to hold on to this

one because it's too scary to trust you. Does

your life reflect this? Do you see evidences

of where God has taught you and you trusted him

more than yourself? Have you seen evidence of

repentance in your life because God corrected

you through his word? This is the fear of the

Lord. Now, wait a minute. What about the love

of the Lord? What about his grace? What about

his mercy? What about all of those things that

we actually can approach the Lord? come boldly

before the throne of grace to find help and mercy

in times of need. Yes, all those things are true.

You know, for most of us, that's what brought

us to Christ was the promise of forgiveness,

the welcome of his adoption, all of those sorts

of things. So how do we think about this fear

of the Lord when the Bible also tells us that

God loves us and invites us in? What I want to

submit to you is that fear of the Lord and faith

in Christ are actually two sides of the same

coin. It's two sides of the same coin. Right

before that passage in Proverbs 3, 5, trust in

the Lord with all your heart and lean not on

your own understanding. In Proverbs 3, 3, he

says, let not steadfast love and faithfulness

forsake you. Write them on the tablet of your

heart. He's talking about God's steadfast love

and faithfulness. Why should you trust in the

Lord with all your heart? Because his love for

you is covenantal and it is un... That's why

you should abandon leaning on your own understanding

because he is absolutely and imminently trustworthy.

He makes and keeps his promises and his love

is covenantal. If someone with all that power

and authority and knowledge, my goodness, he

commits to you when he knows what you and I are

like. If someone like that sets his affection

on you and does so chiefly by dying for you,

then perhaps he's worth trusting. Perhaps he's

worth trusting more than myself, and perhaps

he's worth trusting even with the fine china

of my life. Listen, fear of the Lord means you

tremble before his power and his holiness, and

so you listen. You take him at his word. He knows

better than I do. But isn't that what faith is?

Isn't that exactly what faith is, is taking God

at his word, that when he says something, it's

as good as done? Trusting the Lord with all your

heart combines this incredible understanding

that God is God and I am not. And that God in

all his godness has set his affection on you

and on me. So it's only saying to tremble before

the Lord and therefore to listen to him. What

is the most important thing that we could possibly

listen to God about? Perhaps it's something like

this. But God demonstrates his own love for us

in this. That while we were still sinners, Christ

died for us. Are you going to argue with him

about that? Are you going to lean on your own

understanding about something like the gospel?

Are you going to trust him with that? Trust in

the Lord with all your heart and lean not on

your own understanding. When he tells you he

has died for you, he has forgiven you, he has

welcomed you. See, brothers and sisters, fear

of the Lord includes both trembling and trusting.

If God knows better than I do, then I need to

listen to him, even as he reveals his love and

grace to me. Fear of the Lord and faith in Christ

are two sides of the same coin. Let me loop back

to the beginning. If we understand all this,

then we understand that wisdom is not merely

life advice. It's not just about managing your

finances or knowing how to use your words, though

it is that. A fuller definition of wisdom is

not just the art or skill of living the good

life for the best life, but perhaps it's something

like this. It's learning how to live from the

author of life who could have rightly destroyed

you, but he loves you instead. That's what true

wisdom is. Now you're off to a good start by

being here and you're sitting yourself under

the ministry of God's word. That is a good place

to start. But will you take a full advantage

of what you have in this church? You do that

by being teachable, by coming and preparing to

hear God's word. Whether that's by ensuring that

you get a proper night's sleep on a Saturday

night so you're ready to hear God's word or by

positioning your heart in prayer and saying,

God, convict me of what I need to be convicted

and encourage me of what I need to be encouraged

in. Perhaps it looks like as you are listening

to the sermons or Bible studies or whatever ministry

of the word you sit under here at the church

that you ask yourself, God, what needs to change

in me? What do I need to hear? Perhaps it means

going up to a fellow church member and saying,

do you see any area of my life where I am not

being faithful to the Lord? Would you speak into

it? Ooh, boy. Friends, here's my challenge to

you. Resolve in your heart that God knows more

than you. Resolve in your heart. Therefore, even

this week, as you go out from here, ask him to

convict you where you need to be convicted, that

you would trust him more than yourself. and ask

him to encourage you where you need to be encouraged,

that you would trust him even with those things

more than yourself, even this week. Let me pray

for you to that end. Go to him. Lord God, thank

you that you speak into the nitty -gritty of

life, that you really do care about the details,

and we thank you, Father, that you... have loved

us enough to instruct us on these things. We

pray, Father, that you would help us to have

that teachable disposition, that we understand

as we tremble before you that you know better

than we do. Lord, would you forgive us for our

arrogance? Would you forgive us for our arrogance

wherever, Lord, we have acted as if though we

know better than you? Lord, we admit to you that

we are foolish people in that regard, and we

plead with you that you would humble us and help

us to learn. God, convict us of the Spirit so

that we might repent and turn. Teach us what

we don't know yet or have forgotten. Remind us

of those truths all so that we would follow you

and that we'd receive the blessings for living

the wise life. We ask this all for your glory,

Lord, that even in our lives that that wisdom

would radiate your goodness and your glory. We

ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.